The Thomas Hardye School
Encyclopedia
The Thomas Hardye School is a secondary school
in Dorchester, Dorset.
As part of a scheme run by the BBC
and the British Council
called Olympic Dreams
, the school is twinned with The Doon School
which India's first Olympic Gold Medalist Abhinav Bindra
attended as a child.
. This takes students through A-Levels and AVCE
s. IB courses are also available and many students have found that the course is becoming more popular among their prospective universities with some offers being recently lowered.
Until the end of 2010, the school's headteacher was Dr Iain Melvin O.B.E, who had served for 22 years. The headteacher from September 2011 will be Mr Michael Foley.
The school is situated on the western edge of Dorchester, next to Thomas Hardye Leisure Centre.
(Combined Cadet Force) that has been running for the last 100 years. The CCF has a large Army
contingent as well as a smaller RAF section. They train regularly and compete on a national level. The Army contingent is cap-badged The Rifles
and was formerly Devonshire and Dorset Regiment
. The school inevitably produces many army (and navy) officers.
Aaron Cook
(who represented Great Britain at the 2008 Olympics in taekwondo
, losing in the bronze medal bout in the -80 kg class) also attended the school for years 9-10 but never completed his full education in order to concentrate fully on his Olympic
dreams and preparations.
and Admiral Thomas Hardy; Thomas Hardy of Melcombe Regis
and Frampton
. Hardy was a property owner who endowed the Dorchester 'free' school in 1579, ten years after its completion by the town. His monument is on the south wall of St. Peter's Church. The Tudor grammar school offered free education to boys of the town and neighbourhood, and flourished under the Puritan regime of Revd. John White. It survived the doldrums of the 18th century, though at times having very few scholars, and struggled through the first half of the nineteenth century, closing in 1879. It was substantially rebuilt and re-opened in 1883. It was known as Dorchester Grammar School until 1950 or 1951, when the name Hardye's School was adopted as a reminder of the sixteenth century founder and links to the Hardy family.
Though he had as a child attended Isaac Last's rival establishment in Durngate Street, Thomas Hardy
, the author, laid one of the foundation stones for the school's new building on the out-of-town Fordington site in 1927 - parents attached great importance to health as an aspect of education at the time! The land had previously belonged to the Duchy of Cornwall, and the new building was formally opened in 1928 by the Duke of Cornwall, the then Prince of Wales, and remained the 'Hardye's' site until 1992. The Memorial gates, dedicated in 1957, escaped demolition and were moved to the new Thomas Hardye School. The Dorchester Grammar School for Girls was opened in around 1930, and the Dorchester Modern School some time after the 1944 Education Act. These schools formed the basis of the Thomas Hardye School.
On Friday 12 December 2008, the Prince of Wales
and the Duchess of Cornwall visited the school to officially open the newly constructed library and sports hall. The Prince recently developed land near the school into what is now known as Poundbury
, and a school nearby to the south-west is called the Prince of Wales First School.
scheme (which sees a UK school twinned with a former school of a London 2012 Olympic athlete), the Thomas Hardye School was twinned with The Doon School
, in the northern Indian city of Dehradun
. The all boys private school is one of India's oldest education institutions and was the school of India's first individual Olympic gold medalist Abhinav Bindra
.
The schools communicate regularly and are represented by a member of staff and pupil who arrange projects to exchange culture and prepare for the London 2012 Summer Olympics.
Secondary school
Secondary school is a term used to describe an educational institution where the final stage of schooling, known as secondary education and usually compulsory up to a specified age, takes place...
in Dorchester, Dorset.
As part of a scheme run by the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
and the British Council
British Council
The British Council is a United Kingdom-based organisation specialising in international educational and cultural opportunities. It is registered as a charity both in England and Wales, and in Scotland...
called Olympic Dreams
Olympic Dreams
Olympic Dreams is the title of a British television series, a co-production between the BBC and the Open University, with the intent of tracking a group of young British athletes bidding for Olympic success at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London....
, the school is twinned with The Doon School
The Doon School
The Doon School is an independent school located in Dehradun in the state of Uttarakhand in India. Established in 1935, it was founded by Satish Ranjan Das. Its first Headmaster was Arthur E...
which India's first Olympic Gold Medalist Abhinav Bindra
Abhinav Bindra
Abhinav Singh Bindra is an Indian shooter from Zirakpur, Mohali, Punjab and is the current World and Olympic champion in the 10 m Air Rifle event...
attended as a child.
Admissions
It provides government funded education for children from Year 9 to Year 11. The school also has an integrated sixth formSixth form
In the education systems of England, Wales, and Northern Ireland, and of Commonwealth West Indian countries such as Barbados, Trinidad and Tobago, Belize, Jamaica and Malta, the sixth form is the final two years of secondary education, where students, usually sixteen to eighteen years of age,...
. This takes students through A-Levels and AVCE
Avce
Avče is a settlement on the left bank of the river Soča in the Kanal Municipality in the Littoral region of Slovenia.The Parish Church in the settlement is dedicated to Saint Martin and belongs to the Diocese of Koper. A second church built above the village in the Nadavče area is dedicated to Our...
s. IB courses are also available and many students have found that the course is becoming more popular among their prospective universities with some offers being recently lowered.
Until the end of 2010, the school's headteacher was Dr Iain Melvin O.B.E, who had served for 22 years. The headteacher from September 2011 will be Mr Michael Foley.
The school is situated on the western edge of Dorchester, next to Thomas Hardye Leisure Centre.
Activities
The school currently has a CCFCombined Cadet Force
The Combined Cadet Force is a Ministry of Defence sponsored youth organisation in the United Kingdom. Its aim is to "provide a disciplined organisation in a school so that pupils may develop powers of leadership by means of training to promote the qualities of responsibility, self reliance,...
(Combined Cadet Force) that has been running for the last 100 years. The CCF has a large Army
British Army
The British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...
contingent as well as a smaller RAF section. They train regularly and compete on a national level. The Army contingent is cap-badged The Rifles
The Rifles
The Rifles is the largest regiment of the British Army. Formed in 2007, it consists of five regular and two territorial battalions, plus a number of companies in other TA battalions, Each battalion of the Rifles was formerly an individual battalion of one of the two large regiments of the Light...
and was formerly Devonshire and Dorset Regiment
Devonshire and Dorset Regiment
The Devonshire and Dorset Regiment, usually just known as the Devon and Dorsets, was an infantry regiment of the British Army. It was formed in 1958 by the amalgamation of two county regiments:*The Devonshire Regiment*The Dorset Regiment...
. The school inevitably produces many army (and navy) officers.
Aaron Cook
Aaron Cook (taekwondo athlete)
Aaron Arthur Cook is a British taekwondo athlete who qualified for the 2008 Summer Olympics.-Education:...
(who represented Great Britain at the 2008 Olympics in taekwondo
Taekwondo
Taekwondo is a Korean martial art and the national sport of South Korea. In Korean, tae means "to strike or break with foot"; kwon means "to strike or break with fist"; and do means "way", "method", or "path"...
, losing in the bronze medal bout in the -80 kg class) also attended the school for years 9-10 but never completed his full education in order to concentrate fully on his Olympic
Olympic Games
The Olympic Games is a major international event featuring summer and winter sports, in which thousands of athletes participate in a variety of competitions. The Olympic Games have come to be regarded as the world’s foremost sports competition where more than 200 nations participate...
dreams and preparations.
Grammar school
The school is named after a distant collateral ancestor of the author Thomas HardyThomas Hardy
Thomas Hardy, OM was an English novelist and poet. While his works typically belong to the Naturalism movement, several poems display elements of the previous Romantic and Enlightenment periods of literature, such as his fascination with the supernatural.While he regarded himself primarily as a...
and Admiral Thomas Hardy; Thomas Hardy of Melcombe Regis
Melcombe Regis
Melcombe Regis is an area of Weymouth in Dorset, England.Situated on the north shore of Weymouth Harbour and originally part of the waste of Radipole, it seems only to have developed as a significant settlement and seaport in the 13th century...
and Frampton
Frampton
- UK :Frampton means "farmstead on the River Frome", of which there are several.*Frampton, Dorset*Frampton, Lincolnshire*Frampton-on-Severn, Gloucestershire*Frampton Cotterell, Gloucestershire*Frampton Mansell, Gloucestershire...
. Hardy was a property owner who endowed the Dorchester 'free' school in 1579, ten years after its completion by the town. His monument is on the south wall of St. Peter's Church. The Tudor grammar school offered free education to boys of the town and neighbourhood, and flourished under the Puritan regime of Revd. John White. It survived the doldrums of the 18th century, though at times having very few scholars, and struggled through the first half of the nineteenth century, closing in 1879. It was substantially rebuilt and re-opened in 1883. It was known as Dorchester Grammar School until 1950 or 1951, when the name Hardye's School was adopted as a reminder of the sixteenth century founder and links to the Hardy family.
Though he had as a child attended Isaac Last's rival establishment in Durngate Street, Thomas Hardy
Thomas Hardy
Thomas Hardy, OM was an English novelist and poet. While his works typically belong to the Naturalism movement, several poems display elements of the previous Romantic and Enlightenment periods of literature, such as his fascination with the supernatural.While he regarded himself primarily as a...
, the author, laid one of the foundation stones for the school's new building on the out-of-town Fordington site in 1927 - parents attached great importance to health as an aspect of education at the time! The land had previously belonged to the Duchy of Cornwall, and the new building was formally opened in 1928 by the Duke of Cornwall, the then Prince of Wales, and remained the 'Hardye's' site until 1992. The Memorial gates, dedicated in 1957, escaped demolition and were moved to the new Thomas Hardye School. The Dorchester Grammar School for Girls was opened in around 1930, and the Dorchester Modern School some time after the 1944 Education Act. These schools formed the basis of the Thomas Hardye School.
Comprehensive
Dorchester Grammar School for Girls became Castlefield School in 1980. The boys' school had boarding facilities until 1982. The current school is a merger of the former Hardye's School (boys) and Castlefield School (girls) in 1992 on the Castlefield site when the decision was made to have a mixed comprehensive school. The Hardye's School site was subsequently sold in 1995 and developed into housing.On Friday 12 December 2008, the Prince of Wales
Charles, Prince of Wales
Prince Charles, Prince of Wales is the heir apparent and eldest son of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. Since 1958 his major title has been His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales. In Scotland he is additionally known as The Duke of Rothesay...
and the Duchess of Cornwall visited the school to officially open the newly constructed library and sports hall. The Prince recently developed land near the school into what is now known as Poundbury
Poundbury
Poundbury is an experimental new town or urban extension on the outskirts of Dorchester in the county of Dorset, England.The development is built on land owned by the Duchy of Cornwall. It is built according to the principles of Prince Charles...
, and a school nearby to the south-west is called the Prince of Wales First School.
BBC World Olympic Dreams
After Sports Voice submitted an entry into the BBCBBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
scheme (which sees a UK school twinned with a former school of a London 2012 Olympic athlete), the Thomas Hardye School was twinned with The Doon School
The Doon School
The Doon School is an independent school located in Dehradun in the state of Uttarakhand in India. Established in 1935, it was founded by Satish Ranjan Das. Its first Headmaster was Arthur E...
, in the northern Indian city of Dehradun
Dehradun
- Geography :The Dehradun district has various types of physical geography from Himalayan mountains to Plains. Raiwala is the lowest point at 315 meters above sea level, and the highest points are within the Tiuni hills, rising to 3700 m above sea level...
. The all boys private school is one of India's oldest education institutions and was the school of India's first individual Olympic gold medalist Abhinav Bindra
Abhinav Bindra
Abhinav Singh Bindra is an Indian shooter from Zirakpur, Mohali, Punjab and is the current World and Olympic champion in the 10 m Air Rifle event...
.
The schools communicate regularly and are represented by a member of staff and pupil who arrange projects to exchange culture and prepare for the London 2012 Summer Olympics.
Facilities
- Two swimming pools,
- AstroturfAstroTurfAstroTurf is a brand of artificial turf. Although the term is a registered trademark, it is sometimes used as a generic description of any kind of artificial turf. The original AstroTurf product was a short pile synthetic turf while the current products incorporate modern features such as...
pitch, - Large playing fields,
- ICT rooms in all departments,
- TheatreTheatreTheatre is a collaborative form of fine art that uses live performers to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place. The performers may communicate this experience to the audience through combinations of gesture, speech, song, music or dance...
, - Cafeteria,
- A library with over 30,000 books,
- Sixth Form Centre with two common rooms, ICT facilities and a cafeteria,
- A new swimming pool and leisure complex is set to be completed in February 2012.
Notable alumni
- Bill Baker, Conservative MP from 1964-74 for BanffshireBanffshire (UK Parliament constituency)Banffshire was a constituency of the House of Commons of Great Britain from 1708 to 1800, and of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1801 to 1983...
- Prof Neil Barclay, Titular Professor of Molecular Immunology since 1998 at the University of OxfordUniversity of OxfordThe University of Oxford is a university located in Oxford, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest surviving university in the world and the oldest in the English-speaking world. Although its exact date of foundation is unclear, there is evidence of teaching as far back as 1096...
- Colonel Christopher Biles OBE, Army intelligence officer, and head of military intelligence in Northern IrelandNorthern IrelandNorthern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...
, who died in the 1994 Scotland RAF Chinook crash - David Kenneth Hay Dale CBE, Governor of Montserrat from 1980-4
- Roger Gale, Conservative MP since 1983 for North Thanet, and former BBC producer
- Prof Peter Garland CBE, Professor of Biochemistry from 1992-9 at the Institute of Cancer ResearchInstitute of Cancer ResearchThe Institute of Cancer Research is a cancer research institute located in London, United Kingdom and a constituent college of the federal University of London. The ICR was founded in 1909 as a research department of the Royal Marsden Hospital and joined the University of London in 2003...
- Prof John Gillingham CBE, Professor of Neurological Surgery from 1963-80 at the University of EdinburghUniversity of EdinburghThe University of Edinburgh, founded in 1583, is a public research university located in Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland, and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The university is deeply embedded in the fabric of the city, with many of the buildings in the historic Old Town belonging to the university...
, and a pioneer of stereotactic surgeryStereotactic surgeryStereotactic surgery or stereotaxy is a minimally invasive form of surgical intervention which makes use of a three-dimensional coordinates system to locate small targets inside the body and to perform on them some action such as ablation, biopsy, lesion, injection, stimulation, implantation,... - Paul HillierPaul HillierPaul Douglas Hillier is a conductor, music director and baritone. He specializes in early music and contemporary art music, especially that by composers Steve Reich and Arvo Pärt. He studied at Magdalen College, Oxford and the Guildhall School of Music, beginning his professional career while a...
, classical singer and composer. - Lt-Col Alec Lovelac CMG MBE MC, Governor of Antigua from 1954-8
- Rt Rev Michael Perham, Bishop of GloucesterBishop of GloucesterThe Bishop of Gloucester is the Ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Gloucester in the Province of Canterbury.The diocese covers the County of Gloucestershire and part of the County of Worcestershire and has its see in the City of Gloucester where the seat is located at the Cathedral Church...
since 2004 - Maj-GenMajor-General (United Kingdom)Major general is a senior rank in the British Army. Since 1996 the highest position within the Royal Marines is the Commandant General Royal Marines who holds the rank of major general...
John Stephenson CB OBE, Colonel CommandantColonel CommandantColonel Commandant is a military title used in the armed forces of some English-speaking countries. The title, not a substantive rank, could denote a senior colonel with authority over fellow colonels...
from 1984-9 of the Royal ArtilleryRoyal ArtilleryThe Royal Regiment of Artillery, commonly referred to as the Royal Artillery , is the artillery arm of the British Army. Despite its name, it comprises a number of regiments.-History:... - Simon WinchesterSimon WinchesterSimon Winchester, OBE , is a British-American author and journalist who resides mostly in the United States. Through his career at The Guardian, Winchester covered numerous significant events including Bloody Sunday and the Watergate Scandal...
OBE, journalist - Paddy MilnerPaddy MilnerPaddy Milner is a Scottish singer-songwriter.-History:After living for a short while in Scotland, Milner spent most of his youth in Dorset, England. It was here that he was exposed to music from an early age and learnt to play the piano...
, singer and composer